New Castle, DE – The Concordia College Clippers men's basketball team visited Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) opponent Wilmington (DE) this evening. After leading at the half, the Clippers were unable to hold off the Wildcats as they won their fifth conference game of the season, 82-72.
Concordia jumped out to an early 16-8 lead following a three-point basket at the 11:32 mark by Brandon Whitaker (Harlem, NY). The Wildcats chipped away at their deficit and got within four points of tying after a layup with 5:21 remaining in the first half. With under a minute to go, Wilmington made a layup to get within a point as the half was drawing to a close. Norman Pope (Washington, D.C.) made a layup with time expiring in the period to give the Clippers a 33-31 lead going into the locker room.
The Wildcats took the lead following a three-point basket a minute and a half into the second half. Both teams battled to gain the lead and Wilmington would prevail after a three-point basket with 11:20 remaining as they took the lead for good. The Wildcats would go on a hot streak with their three-point shooting as they increased their lead to nine points with 7:01 to go.
Concordia attempted to make a comeback as the team was down by only five points with 3:34 remaining. Wilmington held their ground as they connected on nine foul shots during the last three minutes while holding the Clippers to only four points in that span to capture the victory.
Whitaker led the Clippers with a team-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Argelix Gil (Brooklyn, NY) added 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds while Pope added 14 points. As a team, Concordia shot 40.4% (23-of-57) from the field as they only recorded eight assists to Wilmington's 21 assists.
The Clippers (10-12, 7-7 CACC) will be back in action tomorrow evening as they travel to Post University. The Clippers will take to the court of the Drubner Center at 8pm following the women's game in Waterbury, CT.